Harper's weekly. Full issues or just the woodcuts?

[novakjr]

I've picked up a few of the Harper's Weekly baseball woodcuts, well, actually so far, I've only been picking up the full issues. Now, I've run into something I'm not sure of. I've got an opportunity to pick one of the harder to find ones for a decent price, the only problem is that it's not the full issue. I'm not dead set on full issues only for my collection, but I'm not sure of the values either. Is it the full issues that are really worth it, or is it simply the woodcuts alone with the complete issue just being an added bonus?

I'm thinking about sticking to the full issues, but maybe in certain cases, allowing myself to purchase single woodcuts as filler, until a full issue becomes available to me. Any thoughts? And what approach have some of you other collectors taken with the Harpers woodcuts?

[Bill Rayburn]

I have been collecting the old woodcuts (Harper's and others) for several years. I follow the thoughts in your last paragraph. I like to frame mine for the man cave. We have a local framer that does a good job with complete magazines especially if the image is on the cover. I make copies of any articles associated with the image and tape to the back of the frame. There is a decision to make when the woodcut is on the inside. I usually cut it out and frame it. I don't think there is much difference in the value.

[bcbgcbrcb]

I agree, the primary value is in the woodcut itself, the entire issue can be more cumbersome than it is worth sometimes and does not add a lot of monetary value IMHO.

[Old Hoss]

Just my two cents, but I think the complete issues give interesting context to the images. Having a complete issue certainly adds to the historical value of the piece. Additionally, sometimes there is a brief caption or group of paragraphs about the images that is not directly under them.

I wouldn't recommend cutting out images from complete issues, if only because images that are already cut-out are more common than complete issues and more easily available.


Best,
Charles

[bbcard1]

This is what I did with a couple of the woodcuts I recently picked up. They make nice additions to my collection. I probably would have just put a whole issue in a box. Same question I came up with a few years ago when I had some uncut boxes of Tastycakes or some such...I just asked myself, in what form would I enjoy them more? The answer for me was cut. Now, I could not bring myself to cut a Harpers that had survived that long, but the tasycakes were easy.

[novakjr]

Thank you everyone for the insight. I wouldn't dare cut one of these issues, something about that just wouldn't sit right with me. I wouldn't be getting them as display pieces, just purely for their collectible and historical nature. If they display well without destroying the issue, then I will display them.

Again, thanks for everyone's input, I've decided to go with full issues as my ultimate goal, but single woodcuts as temporary solutions in cases where they are highly displayable if the price is right.

Anyways, I did end up buying the October 1859 Hoboken cricket/baseball pages for what I consider a decent price(I may be wrong about that though). It's not the best condition, but it should display well. I'll check it off my list, but will still continue my search for that full issue though. I've been wanting this one for a long time. I'm a little excited.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...K%3AMEWNX%3AIT

[doug.goodman]

I believe that I have the complete Harper's woodcut collection thru 1908. I could be wrong, and would be more that interested in trading info with anybody else out there who has an interest in these issues.

It has been my experience that the full issues are sometimes less expensive to purchase than just the woodcuts themselves.

I attribute this to the fact that anybody selling a woodcut knows what they have, while it is possible to sell full issues without knowing exactly what the contents are.

As for storage and display, I have found that the Itoya profolios that have been discussed on this site work well for both individual pages, and full issues.

Doug

[bcbgcbrcb]

Here are some woodcuts:

[bcbgcbrcb]

A second group:

[bcbgcbrcb]

My last group:

[novakjr]

Very nice Phil. You got some great stuff there. The Creighton looks awesome. I've heard a lot about the NY Clipper woodcuts, they look pretty nice.

How long has Beckett been grading woodcuts? I knew they had started the Spalding/Reach Guide pages, but I didn't know they did the other stuff as well. I may have to check out their website, and send some of my stuff in.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Hey, David:

You can use the regular card submission form for Beckett to submit the woodcuts. They would cost the same price as a card for the service level that you choose plus an additional $8.00 oversize holder charge. The largest that will fit in their holder is about 8 3/4" X 11". You will not find any info on their website about grading woodcuts, spalding guide pages, etc. These will all be encapsulated as "Authentic" as they are hand cut from larger periodicals.

If you have any other questions, I can probably help you with them. Andy Broome is the best conatct person to deal with at Beckett as he is their senior vintage grader.